Consistent support is fundamental to maintaining high customer satisfaction scores, customer loyalty, and customer longevity. It is a key element in world class service. Customers generally do not care if you have one call center in Georgia or multiple centers around the globe. They want timely, professional, and consistent service regardless of its point of […]
Congratulations to Aileen Allkins, Vice President of Global Support Delivery at HP, for her efforts to improve the customer service skills of HP’s support engineers and managers. Consistent world class support is a high priority for HP, so they decided to provide soft skills training for their global staff of engineers. They wanted to increase […]
As the economy recovers, many companies are looking for opportunities to claw their way back to pre-recession sales levels. And companies that fared well want to be sure to keep their customers as competition in the playing field grows. Who’s upselling and cross-selling now? While sales teams have long had goals for upselling and cross-selling, more […]
Fess up, now! There some customers you just love to talk to and others that you can’t wait to get off the line, right? Of course there are some customers who are just downright cranky and rude, but barring those grouches, there’s a reason why you relate better to some people than to others. To sum […]
Social media as a service and support channel is on the rise. There is a buzz about what effect social media will have on customer service. Peter Shankman showed us what one tweet can do. After jokingly asking Morton’s steakhouse to meet him at an airport with a porterhouse in one of his tweets, they […]
30 to 40 million social media interactions take place in one day according to Catriona Wallace from Fifth Quadrant. Companies are getting on board to offer service and support through various social media channels. According to a Zendesk infographic by Tiffany Maleshefski, “A majority of consumers are already using social media channels for customer support, […]
A round of applause goes to Gregory Cyrus, Customer Operations Manager, and Jill Remmler, Customer Service Manager, in their efforts to increase GE Healthcare's Net Promoter Score. GE Healthcare’s field engineers have direct contact with customers and are responsible for repairing devices and creating a positive relationship with clients. Management, concerned with offering customers the […]
Did you hear? You can get whatever you want, whenever you want it – wherever you are! The ever increasing popularity of smart phones and tablets is putting increasing pressure on service and support centers to respond in real-time to customer requests. The concept of business hours and waiting periods has been kicked to the […]
Congratulations to Charles Plemons, Helpdesk Coördinator in Technical Support Services, and his team at Western Kentucky University (WKU) for introducing chat support, a new initiative with positive results. WKU didn’t offer chat support prior to training with Impact Learning Systems. They saw a need and wanted to be adequately trained before offering their new […]
You’ve heard of First Contact Resolution, right? Hopefully, you’re taking concrete steps to resolve as many issues on the first contact as possible. Following right on the tail of first contact resolution is proactive service. Also called proactive support or next issue avoidance, it’s a trend worth focusing on. What is proactive service? When customer service […]
If you’re not already crowdsourcing your customer service and support, it’s time to consider doing so. Why? Smart businesses are always looking for ways to help their customers. And when you can help your customers and minimize expenses, why not? What is Crowdsourcing? Crowdsourcing is using your “crowd” of users as the “source” to help other […]
Companies are reframing customer service as a strategic method for gathering important information to inform marketing direction and product development. While you can obtain valuable insights by monitoring your social media channels, adding insights from your call center will provide a greater breadth and depth of information. According to Bruce Temkin of the Temkin Group, […]
Answering customers’ questions daily is a large part of many people’s jobs. Some people may feel like they can answer a customer’s question as long as they are knowledgeable of their company’s products or services. While this may be true, the real question is, are you answering your customers’ questions with style? In reality, there is […]
The other day, I opened an email from AT&T reminding me of my upcoming bill. I opened it expecting to see my usual monthly payment. Instead, I found a bill total of more than triple the normal amount. My initial thought: Here we go again. I absolutely hate calling AT&T, because it takes at least […]
When you’re working in a call center, you never know what the deck is going to deal you. You may get the inquisitive customer, the customer seeking a solution, or even the fed up and angry customer. Equipping yourself with problem solving skills will help you avoid reaching the irate customer stage. First: Define the Problem […]
No problem! It’s a simple phrase uttered without a second thought after someone thanks you for assisting them. Despite being a commonly accepted English expression, “No Problem!” has some surprising negative connotations. Saying “No Problem!” can leave the caller thinking, “Wait! I was a problem?!” Customer service representatives who use this phrase can sabotage an […]
When you call a support center to get help on an issue or have a question answered, will you be more satisfied with the company if: The customer representative is knowledgeable and is able to resolve your issue on the first call? The representative is unsure how to help you, puts you on hold, and then asks […]
Email has a convenience factor other forms of communication lack. Email can be sent at any time and responded to at any time. As a result, more and more people are using email to communicate with companies when they are in need of assistance. If you want to offer your customers more ways to get […]
The Anatomical Pathology Business Unit of Thermo Fisher Scientific understands the importance of customer satisfaction on profitability. To ensure satisfaction is at its highest, they measure customer satisfaction for field service according to a Customer Allegiance Score (CAS). In addition to measuring overall satisfaction and willingness to recommend the company to others, CAS measures the […]
If you're like other people interested in customer service, you’re constantly on the lookout for ways to develop customer relationships. Some customers are easier to engage than others, but recently I’ve seen great customer service from field service engineers. I recently scheduled an appointment with my gas company to get my pilot light re-lit. When […]
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